Orcadian Column, 3/9/2026

Having spent the last two weeks on holiday with WhatsApp messages muted and a self-imposed ban on accessing social media, I can attest to the health benefits of a ‘digital detox’, although as preparation for writing your fortnightly column for the Orcadian such a news ‘blackout’ can be problematic.

After a busy summer of isles visits, advice surgeries, shows and doing all the things around Orkney that are difficult to accommodate while parliament is in session, it was good to get away for a fortnight to recharge my batteries before parliament returned this week. I could already feel the benefit of that holiday wearing off, however, as I scrolled through my inbox at the weekend to discover an email confirming the Scottish Government’s intention to publish another independence referendum bill this week.

Predictable but also utterly pointless in terms of what it will actually achieve, this move suggests the First Minister is intent on wasting parliamentary time and government resources trying to keep his party and activists happy rather than focusing exclusively on the needs of the country as a whole.  John Swinney has been criticised recently by some within his own ranks for not doing enough to press the case for independence. I doubt this token bill will even do much to convince that audience.

Mr Swinney has also faced criticism for a rather lacklustre start to this new term in office. In the 100 days since May’s election, we’ve seen a flurry of announcements but none have captured the public imagination and many seem poorly thought-out.

Walk-in GP surgeries have been costly and attracted little football but heavy criticism from the Royal College of GPs. Costly too are plans to provide free backpacks for all schoolchildren. Worryingly, there is scant evidence of any analysis having been carried out about the effectiveness of this spending in targeting resources where they are most needed in education or by families in poverty.

Likewise, the flagship proposal to ‘cap’ prices for certain food ‘essentials’ speaks to a desire to be seen to be responding to household ‘cost of living’ pressures. Yet most independent experts agree it will result in reduced prices paid to farmers and food producers or increases in other food items or indeed both. From parliamentary questions I lodged in June, it’s clear Ministers have done little work to understand the likely impact of these proposals.

As the First Minister sets out his Programme for Government this week, though, most attention will be on what he has to say about his approach to tackling the large and growing fiscal deficit. This misalignment between what the Scottish Government has committed to spend and the resources it has available is estimated to reach £5bn by 2029-30.

There have been repeated warnings from the Scottish Fiscal Commission and other financial experts about the need for corrective action to be taken and certainly Mr Swinney’s government has not lacked for plans or strategies. Unfortunately, there has been a woeful track record in turning these into actual delivery of the changes that are required.

Much of the onus will now be on Ivan McKee, the Minister responsible for public service reform. He has offered reassurances but precious little detail to date. Given the government’s commitment to address the fiscal deficit by the end of the decade we really need to see these plans starting to get fleshed out in the Programme for Government this week.

Self-evidently, this reform process will heavily influence future budgets and the Finance Committee turned its attention this week to the evidence we will be taking over the coming months in preparation for a budget expected to be published in early December. As I sat in the Committee on Wednesday morning, though, I was conscious that back in Orkney, wee Gregor Corse would be heading into nursery in the company of Gregor Townsend.

Scotland’s rugby coach has been so supportive of his namesake since I first approached him earlier in the year to record a short message for wee Gregor when he was doing his ‘loops o the hoose’ for Inclusive Orkney. The occasional digital detox is essential, but any self-imposed social media ban is worth lifting to see photos of When Gregor Met Gregor.